The Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about Joseph. In fact, everything we know is found in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. But what it does say is very positive. Joseph was a righteous man who sought to follow God. He did so even at his own expense.

He took Mary as his wife…when he was sure to receive criticism over her pregnancy.

He left his home and fled to Egypt…where he would have to protect his family in a foreign land from foreign people with foreign beliefs and customs.

He came back from Egypt and had to return to Nazareth…instead of Bethlehem as he initially intended, which we know was his ancestral home because that is where he went to be counted for the census, and where he possibly had established a business when Jesus was a child.

He raised Jesus as His own son…always aware of the huge responsibility he had because Jesus was actually the Son of God.

As far as we know, everything that God told Joseph to do, he did. And yet, time and again he faced difficulties and struggles as a direct result of his obedience. Sometimes life is that way. We do the right thing…and doing it seems to cause greater problems than we would have faced, otherwise. But God has called us to be obedient, faithful to Him…even when life does not appear to be fair.

Thoughts about God for My Grandkids:

“It’s not fair!” Believe me…when your Mom/Dad was a kid…I heard them say that more than once. And almost every time I would say, “Who ever told you that life is fair?” Why did I say that? Because life is not fair. It’s tough. It’s hard.

You know that bully at school? Why does it seem that he always gets away with pushing other kids around?

You know the girl who has all the cool clothes? Why does she get everything and others don’t?

Because life is not fair. And really…things can get even worse for some people.

What about your friend whose father, or mother, left them?

What about the family that doesn’t have money to buy food, or clothes?

What about the kid whose family lives in a car?

What about your neighbor who is always sick?

For some people…life is very unfair.

I’ve known some people who decided that their life was so unfair…that they were not going to believe in God. They thought that if there was a God…that He would make life fair for everyone. Think about that. What if God took away everything that would ever make life unfair. There are some things that make life unfair like sickness, and hurricanes, and floods, and earthquakes. People get hurt and lose their homes and other unfair things. But, there are many things that are unfair because of what people do.

Someone steals from another person…that’s not fair.

Someone hits another person…that’s not fair.

Someone tells a lie about another person…that’s not fair.

Now, God could stop people from doing those things. He could take away their ability to make decisions and to be in control of their life. There, now nobody will ever do anything that is unfair. But if God takes away our ability to make bad decisions and to do bad things…it would also take away our ability to make good decisions and to do good things.

It would take away our ability to show love.

It would take away our ability to be happy.

It would take away our ability to do good things for other people.

We’d just be…robots. God would have a remote control and He would decide everything for us. I don’t think that is what we want.

So, God has another plan. First, He is going to give us the faith we need to trust Him no matter what happens…no matter how unfair life may be. Second, He gives us a promise that one day…life will be fair. When? When we get to Heaven. It’s His promise and it is our hope.

Love you more than bunches and bunches,

Granddad

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Published by Dr. Jim Pennington

Senior Pastor at Temple Church in New Bern, North Carolina
Dr. Jim Pennington grew up in central Florida where he enjoyed sunshine, the surf and fresh squeezed orange juice. He attended the University of Florida where he accepted Jesus Christ and married Patty. He went on to graduate at Palm Beach Atlantic College, then received a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. He has been serving in the ministry for over 40 years, most of that as a Senior Pastor. He and Patty have traveled the world together on vacations and mission trips from the Bahamas to Guatemala to South Africa to Tanzania to Israel to France to Italy to England and about a dozen more countries. They have flown in hot air balloons, fixed wing gliders, the Bud One Airship, and all kinds of airplanes. He says, "I would rather spend time with her than anyone else in the world." They have a daughter, Courtney, who lives with her husband and three boys in the Tampa, Florida area and a son, Jeremy, who lives with his wife, two boys and a daughter in Palmer, Alaska. He has a passion for hiking, hunting, fishing, scuba diving, skiing, zip lining, snow machining and pretty much anything outdoors. Dr. Jim Pennington says, "The reason that I love nature so much is because everywhere I look, I see God's fingerprints."
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